virgin.
Joanne poured her heart out to her granny and made detailed allegations about how Vic Copperman and Thea Trevelyan had involved her and other youngsters in sordid sex parties and forced her to take part in pornographic movies.
Joanne’s grandmother was appalled. Not only was she shocked and horrified by what had been happening at a supposedly responsible children’s home, she was angry at her daughter for allowing Joanne to be taken away from her in the first place.
The first inkling Dee Washington had of her daughter’s suffering came when a stream of letters from her family arrived at her Essex home, condemning her for neglecting her daughter and revealing that poor Joanne had even attempted suicide in Devon because she could not stand the thought of returning to Four Elms.
‘I just cannot believe you just stay up there doing nothing. I really am quite ashamed,’ wrote Dee’s sister Joan from her home in Devon.
Another letter from Dee’s niece, a hospital sister who was on duty when Joanne was admitted after trying to kill herself, pleaded with Dee to come to her daughter’s aid. ‘Do you really not care for poor Joanne’s welfare?’ she asked. ‘Do you not think it istime you made up for the years you neglected your motherly role?’
Not surprisingly, Joanne’s grandmother and other relatives called in the police to report the teenager’s allegations. Detectives reacted swiftly and positively and arrested Vic Copperman and Thea Trevelyan. They were bailed while enquiries went ahead.
It was even disclosed that, earlier, the home had come under suspicion because Trevelyan had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital suffering from severe alcohol problems. Investigations had later led to the decision, in January 1987, to withdraw children from the home – but Joanne had decided to stay on. No one knows why…
For Dee Washington, however, the die was cast. With the stinging rebukes of her family still fresh in her mind, the forty-one-year-old divorcee decided to take revenge.
Dee knew that if she was to pay back those two sick and perverted people she needed to psych herself up into a state of complete and utter contempt. She hired a video of the notorious Charles Bronson film Death Wish , about an ordinary man taking revenge on the men who attacked his daughter.
She sat in her house one afternoon and watched it over and over again. Each time she saw Bronson’s character blast his daughter’s slayers, it reaffirmedher conviction that there was only one way to avenge the abuse Joanne had suffered.
Dee carefully packed her favourite shotgun into the boot of her car and set off on the journey to Four Elms. She felt strangely calm. Her mind was made up. There was absolutely no question of turning back. Her family’s criticisms were burning a hole in her heart. She bitterly regretted not taking Joanne back years earlier. She had always loved Joanne. Maybe this response would convince the rest of her family that she really did care.
Dee kept thinking back to the methods used by Charles Bronson. He never faltered. He never lost his nerve. She admired that and she was about to emulate it in every sense of the word.
On 26 November 1987, Dee arrived at Four Elms to collect her daughter’s belongings. The place was deserted so she drove to a nearby town and had a coffee. The delay did nothing to lessen her determination to get revenge. When she drove back up the drive to Four Elms an hour later, Copperman and Trevelyan were standing outside.
They were a little taken aback to see Dee but soon relaxed when Dee smiled at them. Upstairs, she was shown Joanne’s room which was filled to the brim with the bribes they had ‘paid’ Joanne in exchange for her co-operation in their sick sexual games.
They had bought her a BMX bike, a recordplayer and records, a pedal car, dolls, stuffed toys and lots of clothes. Dee felt dreadful as she stood in that room because she knew exactly what each present must
Joanne poured her heart out to her granny and made detailed allegations about how Vic Copperman and Thea Trevelyan had involved her and other youngsters in sordid sex parties and forced her to take part in pornographic movies.
Joanne’s grandmother was appalled. Not only was she shocked and horrified by what had been happening at a supposedly responsible children’s home, she was angry at her daughter for allowing Joanne to be taken away from her in the first place.
The first inkling Dee Washington had of her daughter’s suffering came when a stream of letters from her family arrived at her Essex home, condemning her for neglecting her daughter and revealing that poor Joanne had even attempted suicide in Devon because she could not stand the thought of returning to Four Elms.
‘I just cannot believe you just stay up there doing nothing. I really am quite ashamed,’ wrote Dee’s sister Joan from her home in Devon.
Another letter from Dee’s niece, a hospital sister who was on duty when Joanne was admitted after trying to kill herself, pleaded with Dee to come to her daughter’s aid. ‘Do you really not care for poor Joanne’s welfare?’ she asked. ‘Do you not think it istime you made up for the years you neglected your motherly role?’
Not surprisingly, Joanne’s grandmother and other relatives called in the police to report the teenager’s allegations. Detectives reacted swiftly and positively and arrested Vic Copperman and Thea Trevelyan. They were bailed while enquiries went ahead.
It was even disclosed that, earlier, the home had come under suspicion because Trevelyan had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital suffering from severe alcohol problems. Investigations had later led to the decision, in January 1987, to withdraw children from the home – but Joanne had decided to stay on. No one knows why…
For Dee Washington, however, the die was cast. With the stinging rebukes of her family still fresh in her mind, the forty-one-year-old divorcee decided to take revenge.
Dee knew that if she was to pay back those two sick and perverted people she needed to psych herself up into a state of complete and utter contempt. She hired a video of the notorious Charles Bronson film Death Wish , about an ordinary man taking revenge on the men who attacked his daughter.
She sat in her house one afternoon and watched it over and over again. Each time she saw Bronson’s character blast his daughter’s slayers, it reaffirmedher conviction that there was only one way to avenge the abuse Joanne had suffered.
Dee carefully packed her favourite shotgun into the boot of her car and set off on the journey to Four Elms. She felt strangely calm. Her mind was made up. There was absolutely no question of turning back. Her family’s criticisms were burning a hole in her heart. She bitterly regretted not taking Joanne back years earlier. She had always loved Joanne. Maybe this response would convince the rest of her family that she really did care.
Dee kept thinking back to the methods used by Charles Bronson. He never faltered. He never lost his nerve. She admired that and she was about to emulate it in every sense of the word.
On 26 November 1987, Dee arrived at Four Elms to collect her daughter’s belongings. The place was deserted so she drove to a nearby town and had a coffee. The delay did nothing to lessen her determination to get revenge. When she drove back up the drive to Four Elms an hour later, Copperman and Trevelyan were standing outside.
They were a little taken aback to see Dee but soon relaxed when Dee smiled at them. Upstairs, she was shown Joanne’s room which was filled to the brim with the bribes they had ‘paid’ Joanne in exchange for her co-operation in their sick sexual games.
They had bought her a BMX bike, a recordplayer and records, a pedal car, dolls, stuffed toys and lots of clothes. Dee felt dreadful as she stood in that room because she knew exactly what each present must
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